Across San Diego, from Mission Hills to Golden Hill and Encanto, residents are organizing to fight a wave of large apartment projects approved under the city’s Complete Communities plan. Neighbors say the new buildings, some pitched at double digit stories, would alter long established neighborhood character, block views and make already crowded streets even tougher to navigate. The backlash has already produced lawsuits and a temporary court halt on one Golden Hill tower.
As reported by 10News, Mission Hills residents are battling a proposed 12 story development at Goldfinch and Fort Stockton Drive that they say would loom over single family blocks and wipe out long held views. Doug Poole, a Mission Hills resident, told the outlet the building would sit “5 ft” from nearby windows and that parking for new units is a major worry. The Mission Hills Community Review Council’s attorney sent the city a December letter outlining four areas where the project allegedly violates Complete Communities height restrictions, and residents say they have not received a response.
Golden Hill’s test case
In Golden Hill, a higher stakes fight is underway over a 186 unit project that briefly halted after neighbors sued. Times of San Diego reported that a Superior Court judge issued a temporary restraining order in October, then later declined to extend it. The case is set to test whether a planned but unfunded transit upgrade can legally justify Complete Communities density bonuses. Plaintiffs’ filings and the attorney representing Preserve Greater Golden Hill argue the project’s eligibility relies on transit improvements that currently lack committed funding, according to DeLano & DeLano.
How Complete Communities works
The city’s Complete Communities Housing Solutions program allows qualifying projects to build taller and denser near high frequency transit in exchange for affordability commitments and other benefits. As outlined by the City of San Diego, eligible developments can tap into higher floor area ratios and a streamlined review process. The city has also eliminated many minimum parking requirements inside Transit Priority Areas to lower construction costs and encourage transit use, according to the City of San Diego.
Neighbors’ core concerns
Neighborhood groups say the incentives are being used unevenly and that many so called affordable units remain out of reach for long time residents. “Since Complete Communities passed … it is now becoming a concrete juggle without any community input or conversations,” San Diego United Communities founder Margaret Virissimo told 10News. Similar worries have surfaced in Encanto, where neighbors pushed back against accessory dwelling unit and infill plans they feared would concentrate poverty or strain local services, according to reporting by NBC 7 San Diego…